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AN 


ADD11ESS 


BEFORE THE 


AMERICAN PEACE SOCIETY, 


AT ITS ANNIVERSARY IN BOSTON, MAY 25, 1803, 


HON. AMASA W A L KER 


BOS T O N : 

A M E R ICAN V EACE S O C I E T Y , 

23 Chacncey Street, 

1863 . 




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AN 


ADDRESS 

BEFORE THE 

AMERICAN PEACE SOCIETY, 


AT ITS ANNIVERSARY IN BOSTON, MAY 25, 1863, 


BY 

HON. AMASA WALKER. 


BOSTON: 

AMERICAN PEACE SOCIETY, 

23 Chauncey Street, 

1863. 









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At a moment when more than a million of our countrymen 
are engaged in the dreadful work of mutual slaughter — when 
the flames of civil war are raging from the banks of the Rap- 
pahannock to the Mississippi — when the coast of the Atlan- 
tic is blockaded by iron-clads, the fertile fields of Tennes- 
see and Kentucky are reddened with the blood of contending 
armies, and thousands on thousands of our friends and fellow- 
citizens, are falling in the deadly strife — when fire and sword 
are spreading conflagration and ruin through terror-stricken 
towns and burning villages, devastating the growing crops, 
and destroying the accumulated fruits of human industry — 
when the power and resources of a great people are tax- 
ed to their utmost to raise and maintain the largest armies 
possible, and conscription is sending its unwilling victims to 
the battle-field, I find myself called upon to address the 
American Peace Society at its thirty-fourth anniver- 
sary. 

It is common on occasions like the present to offer congrat- 
ulations upon the cheering results of past efforts, and indulge 
in pleasing anticipations of the future ; but I presume it will 


4 


Address. 


be supposed that the friends of Peace, like the ancient Israel- 
ites in exile, must at the present time be ready to hang their 
harps upon the willows, and sit in silent sadness amid the 
deafening roar of battle. It is not so. There is no reason 
why any friend of our cause should be disheartened, much 
less despair. To one who observes the connexion of cause and 
effect, the terrific storm of human passions, and the crimson 
tide of human blood, are but the instrumentalities by which a 
righteous Providence is shaping the destinies of a great people. 
In the terrible phenomena around us, we see only the natural 
and necessary results of human depravity and folly. Man 
must be punished, that he may be. made better and wiser ; 
and the rough ploughshare is not more indispensable to agri- 
culture, than the disruption, violence and distress of war to 
the final triumph of peace. It is a part of that fearful process 
by which humanity is educated to a higher and better life. 
The great baptism of blood with which all Europe was 
baptized, from 1790 to 1815, a period of five and twenty years, 
during which the world was convulsed with agony as never 
before, what did it work out for mankind ? What did it 
teach the nations of the earth ? 

It showed them the utter folly of war. Humanity gained 
nothing from it. The peace which followed, restored all the 
despotism and oppression which preceded it, and increased 
immensely and hopelessly the burdens of the people. It 
taught them, in the truthful language of the first Napoleon, 
that “brute force establishes nothing,” and that mankind 
have nothing to hope from shedding each other’s blood. 

But it did something else besides this. The besom which 
swept over the fairest fields of Europe, and carried desolation 
and dismay in its path, gave rise to the great peace move- 
ment, which took place immediately at its close. The 
first Peace societies in this country and Europe were 
formed in 1816, the next year after the termination of the 
great struggle. They grew out of it ; were a consequence of 
it. Mankind stood aghast as they looked back upon the aw- 
ful scenes through which they had passed, and began to inquire 


Address. 


5 


with unwonted earnestness, shall the sword devour forever ? 
It was even during this contest that our venerated Worces- 
ter, in 1814, published his “ Solemn Review of the Custom of 
War.” He blew the first blast of the Peace Reformation, 
and struck a chord that has vibrated through Christendom 
from tiiat day to this. He inaugurated a movement, which 
we trust will not cease till nations shall learn war no more. 

It is of this movement that it seems proper to speak at this 
time. And in doing so, I first remark, that Christianity is 
the vitalizing power that warms into life and action the high- 
er instincts of the human soul. All genuine reforms of a mo- 
ral character receive their first impulse from the gospel, and 
at their commencement are religious movements. Both the 
Temperance and Anti-Slavery movements originated with re- 
ligious men, in this country and Europe. This is equally 
true of the cause of Peace. No one who shall review, as I 
have had occasion to do, the efforts of Peace societies for the 
last forty years, can fail to be struck with the earnest religious 
spirit which has pervaded and characterized their proceedings 
and publications during this whole period. The second article 
in the Constitution of this Association, says, “ This Society. is 
founded on the principle that war is contrary to the spirit 
of the gospel and I do not know of a single Peace Society 
in this country, in England, or on the Continent of Europe, 
which does not distinctly recognize the same principle. All 
rest on the Christian idea, that war is sinful. 

Another thing that may be noticed in regard to all these 
associations is, that they have a single object, viz : “ to show 
the baleful influence of war on all the great interests of man, 
and devise means for insuring permanent and universal peace.” 
The American Peace Society has never entertained any 
other question ; has never undertaken to interfere in any man- 
ner or degree with the legitimate functions of Government ; 
has never assumed to decide whatemeans shall be used for the 
preservation of the public peace, and the execution of the 
laws. It has never regarded this as coming within the sphere 
of its operations ; and hence, in respect to the present contest 


6 


Address. 


between the Government and certain seceded States, it cannot 
intermeddle, unless its constitution be amended, and its object 
changed. Individual members of the Society may, of course, 
take such action as they deem best ; but it is not easy to per- 
ceive what kind of interference the Society itself can make with 
the Government in its attempts to suppress a rebellion against 
its lawful authority. Even in contests between nations, expe- 
rience shows that very little can be done, after a war has ac- 
tually commenced. When nations or communities have plung- 
ed into war, and appealed to the arbitrament of brute force, 
reason and argument are really out of place. In public estima- 
tion, they are unpatriotic, inopportune, and will give, it may 
be, aid and comfort to the enemy. 

No matter what a citizen may think of an existing contest 
in which his own country is engaged, he must say nothing in 
disparagement of it, under the penalty of being regarded as 
wanting in loyalty. The peace sentiment is crushed out by 
the madness of the hour. 

SUPPRESSION OF THE PEACE SENTIMENT. 

How strikingly was this manifested in England in connex- 
ion with the Crimean war ! All Europe had been for a long 
time in nearly a profound peace. The war-feeling was grad- 
ually but very obviously dying out. Pacific ideas were get- 
ting popular in every quarter of the world. The friends of 
Peace were holding International Congresses at London, and 
Brussels, and Paris, and Frankfort; and the whole current of 
public opinion was evidently tending towards the abolition of 
the war system. The question of mutual disarmament was 
broached in the British Parliament, and its feasibility and 
great desirableness were becoming very prominent before the 
people of Christendom. 

It was a great Peace crisis. Something must be done to 
meet it. If things were allowed to move on in the same di- 
rection much longer, the time could not be far distant, when 
the war system would totter to its fall — its foundations were 
already shaken. Only one measure could meet the emergen- 


Address . 


7 


cy. War must be kindled in Europe; not a small or limited 
one, but of such magnitude as to overwhelm all other influ- 
ences, and completely engross public attention. 

The aristocracy of England, that power which has long 
swayed the destinies of the British Empire, saw all this. The 
despots of the Continent saw it. They realized the impending 
danger. They knew that peace, universal and permanent, 
meant the elevation and improvement of the masses, the spread 
of liberal principles, the growth and success of free institu- 
tions, and of course the downfall of oppression in every form. 
Hence the grand conspiracy to get up a war which should 
put a stop to all these pacific tendencies, reinvigorate the de- 
caying war-system, and extend and perpetuate its influence. 

England and France must join together in a war upon 
Russia, and draw into the contest as many other powers as 
possible. A pretext must be raised ; and one is never want- 
ing. Nicholas is accused of wishing to absorb Turkey into 
his vast empire. The Times , the great organ of British To- 
ryism, engages in the preliminary work of exciting jealousy 
and hatred against Russia. It commences the most violent 
assaults on the Emperor, and does all in its power to exasper- 
ate and madden the British people. Provincial Journals all 
over the United Kingdom take their cue from the great Thun- 
derer, and join in the grand chorus. In a short time, the 
whole country is in a blaze of excitement at the terrible dis- 
covery that Europe is ruined, unless the Emperor of Russia 
is thwarted in the wicked designs they have attributed to 
him. 

And now it is in vain that any raise the note of remon- 
strance, that the Morning Star and other liberal newspapers 
attempt to allay this furor, and induce the public to look 
calmly at the issue before them. It is vain that Cobden, and 
Bright, and other true friends of the people, attempt to stem 
the tide of mad delusion that is fast overwhelming the land. 
Nothing can stand before it. The enemies of Peace are re- 
solved on war at all events. Parliament is dissolved, a new 
election is ordered, the old and tried friends of improvement 


8 


Address. 


and reform, of liberal opinions and the freedom of the people, 
are defeated and driven into retirement. War is declared, 
or, as a distinguished member of the cabinet said, “ England 
floated into war.” It came, not because there was any good 
ground for it, but because certain interests demanded it. 

And now what could men like those I have referred to, do 
for the cause of Peace ? What could the London Peace So- 
ciety accomplish ? What effective action can be taken by the 
friends of Peace anywhere, when a nation is seized with all 
the mad delirium of a war fever ? 

A NATIONAL CONGEESS OE HIGH COUET OF NATIONS. 

It is the prevention of war, then, that Peace Societies are 
wishing to accomplish. It is the formation of a public senti- 
ment in time of peace against all war and all preparation for 
war, irrespective of any particular war which they desire to 
bring about. Their great object has been to direct the public 
mind to some other arbitrament than that of the sword for 
the settlement of international disputes. This, above all 
others, was a prominent object in those Peace Congresses 
to which reference has been made ; Congresses with which 
many of the most illustrious names in Europe were con- 
nected. 

A common tribunal for this purpose involves simply the 
idea of concentration carried to its highest point. The inhab- 
itants of a certain country or territory voluntarily unite their 
energies for a common object, and form a State. States again 
may concentrate their powers, and form a nationality. This 
is one of the highest achievements of civilization. By this, 
tranquillity, public order, and prosperity are secured. 

We must , however, carefully distinguish between concen- 
tration and centralization. One means voluntary association, 
freedom and peace ; the other, tyranny, oppression and war. 

Now, it is the object of Peace Societies to carry this princi- 
ple, so perfectly practicable, and so fully recognized in the 
history of the world, one step further, and concentrate the 
power of all the nations of the earth in a single organized 


Address . 


9 


tribunal, to which disputes between nations or governments 
may be submitted for adjudication and settlement, and thus 
prevent all necessity of resorting to war. 

This is the consummation for which all men of Peace are 
laboring ; and it is this which gives to our movement its world- 
wide, cosmopolitan character, and distinguishes it from all 
other reforms. Its field is the world. 

Other reforms may be successfully carried out by individ- 
ual communities. One state may prohibit the sale of intoxi 
eating drinks, and secure to itself all the advantages of that 
measure. Another may abolish Slavery, and have the full 
benefit of free labor. The Emperor of Eussia may give free- 
dom to his serfs, whether the Emperor of Brazil decrees 
emancipation or not. But it is obviously quite different with 
the Peace movement. To be effective, it must be interna- 
tional and general, at least amongst civilized nations. Hence, 
although the public sentiment of a particular nation be chang- 
ed in relation to war, its policy cannot be essentially altered, 
except in conjunction with other nations. 

The especial efforts of Peace Societies, then, must be direct- 
ed to the formation of such a public sentiment in favor of a 
common tribunal, or high court of nations, as shall induce 
governments to concentrate their efforts for that purpose. To 
effect this object, it is indispensable that the principle on which 
the war system rests, be overturned. That principle is em- 
bodied in the well-known maxim, “ In time or peace pre- 
pare FOR WAR.” 

This is an ancient and venerated maxim. It comes down 
to us from heathen antiquity, and has long been received not 
only as a wise maxim, but an axiom, a self evident truth, not 
to be gainsayed or disregarded. It has been universally ac- 
cepted, and as universally carried out in practice. It is the 
foundation on which the war system is founded. 

It is made, it must be recollected, to apply to the whole 
world, to the great family of nations ; and it is in this connec- 
tion we are to look at it, and estimate its influence, and not as 
applied to a single nation or state. It is the maxim which all 
2 


10 


Address. 


states are taught to follow. If it be not irreverent, it is the 
gospel of war, a gospel to which there are few skeptics or dis- 
believers. If the maxim be a sound one, an axiom in political 
science, there can be no hope for the final pacification of the 
world ; because it is as certain as anything human can be, that 
so long as preparation is made for war, just so long war will 
take place ;*and it is equally true that as soon as the nations 
of the earth discontinue all preparations for war by general 
consent, just so soon will the war system begin to decay, and 
ultimately die out ; for men will not fight very much, when 
they have nothing to fight with, and must settle their disputes 
like rational beings in some other way than cutting each 
other’s throats. If this be so, it is evident that public opinion 
must be changed — the old maxim must be repudiated. 

An interesting inquiry arises, therefore, whether there be 
any causes in operation tending to such a result — tending to 
shake the confidence of mankind in the maxim. 

If we mistake not, such causes have been in effective oper- 
ation for the last fifty years. The arts have, during that long 
period, been making most wonderful advances, and the intro- 
duction of steam by sea and land has not been more efficient 
in changing the peaceful industry of man, than in revolution- 
izing his means and modes of warfare. The events of the 
Crimean war showed to the astonished world how great these 
changes were, how much the old condition of things was al- 
tered, what new and terrific forces were brought into collision. 
All Europe saw and felt this, and therefore engaged in the 
work of preparing for war, with greater earnestness and upon 
a larger scale than ever before. 

INCREASED WAR PREPARATIONS. 

Mr. Cobden in a late speech in the British Parliament says, 
“ It is only within the last few years that men of genius, the 
mechanicians of the age, have been directing their attention 
to this new arm [Iron-clad ships,] because it is only lately, 
since the Crimean war, that the world has set to work pre- 
paring for war. Therefore you have your Whitworths, your 


Address. 


11 


Fairbairns, your Armstrongs, men of genius drawn from their 
own pursuits of civil life, devoting themselves to the inven- 
tion of these armaments, and works of destruction. You 
have only begun yet, and yet how rapidly you are going 
on.” 

That which is thus stated as true of England, is equally 
true of France, indeed, of most of the nations of Europe. All 
have plunged into warlike preparations, or, in the language of 
the speaker just quoted, “ they have gone mad.” 

And at length, as if to complete the climax, and bring the 
whole system to its final issue, the Rebellion breaks out in 
America, and the whole power of more than 30,000,000 of 
people is turned to the invention and construction of new and 
improved engines and implements of war ; and, as might be 
expected from American ingenuity and enterprise, such 
achievements were made as not only eclipsed all that had 
been done on the other side the Atlantic, but changed the 
naval system of the world. 

When the rebel Merrimac, by a single blow of her formida- 
ble prow, sent the Cumberland, one of the noblest ships of the 
American navy, to the bottom, she announced to all the 
world, that the day of wooden vessels for naval warfare had 
gone by forever. And when the loyal Monitor with her single 
turret met the great destroyer, and by a few shots from her 
immense gun sent him back to his hiding place discomfited 
and crippled, another most important fact was established, 
viz : that broadside ships cannot stand in the presence of tur- 
retted Monitors. 

All history may be searched in vain for the occurrence of 
two such important events in one day as on that in which 
these great experimental vessels met in conflict ; for in their 
short career of a few hours, they revolutionized the naval 
warfare of all coming time, and converted a thousand ships of 
war then afloat in different parts of the world into useless 
hulks. The Monitor and Merrimac on that day equalized all 
the old navies of the different nations of the earth, by making 
them all alike worthless. 


12 


Address. 


This was a great event for the cause of Peace ; but even 
more than this was done. The uselessness of land fortifications 
against floating batteries was demonstrated ; and although this 
is a point not so fully established as the former, it is sufficient- 
ly certain that floating batteries will supersede all fixed ones 
in future preparations for defence. “ Whatever artillery can 
be mounted upon a land battery,” says a late British author- 
ity, “ can also be set afloat ; and the floating engine will always 
have a vast advantage over the fixed. A steamer can do 
everything a fortress can do, besides moving to and fro, in 
and out of range, while the fortress is a fixture.” 

All this is doubtless so ; and the late contest of our Monitors 
and iron-clads with the fixed batteries around Charleston, con- 
firms this view of the matter. They were stopped, not by the 
forts, but by the obstructions placed in the channel ; and it 
was these that after a short contest of thirty minutes induced 
them to withdraw, at the moment, it is said, when Fort Sum- 
ter was on the point of surrendering. 

Let us now look at the war system in view of the important 
changes thus indicated. We will take the case of England as 
an illustration, not to make any invidious distinction, but be- 
cause she more truly presents the war idea, in all its phases, 
than any other nation. 

Excited by her jealousy of France, England has made im- 
mense efforts to produce more powerful ordnance than any in 
existence. Sir William Armstrong has been making experi- 
ments several years ; and yet, although he has already expend- 
ed in his efforts more than six millions of dollars, a late intelli- 
gent English writer says, “ they are a failure, because com- 
petent officers declare that for active service they would 
choose the old smooth bore rather than this complicated ma- 
chinery. The boasted durability of these guns is contradicted 
by the fact that within two years and eight months they have 
been changed three times.” 

Other inventors have entered the field of experiment, and 
several powerful cannon have been constructed. Whitworth’s 
and Lancaster’s have been put to the test, but are pronounc- 


Address. 


13 


ed no more satisfactory than Armstrong’s ; and to give the 
conclusion of the whole matter, Mr. Monsell, a member of the 
House of Commons, stated in Parliament, at the last session, 
that “ it was admitted they had no gun at present, that could 
do serious injury at two hundred yards to an iron-plated ship.” 
Bo much for the result of the costly experiments of the Brit- 
ish Government to produce heavier and better ordnance than 
any in existence. 

We now inquire as to her success in building ships of war. 
She has made immense efforts in this direction within the 
last ten years ; but what has been brought to pass ? Has she 
achieved her object? Is she satisfied? No. There is more 
unrest and dissatisfaction in England to-day, more anxiety 
and solicitude in regard to her war preparations at this mo- 
ment, than at perhaps any other period in her history. Im- 
provement and discoveries in the arts of human destruction 
are multiplying so rapidly, that her statesmen are confounded 
and bewildered in the mazes of perplexity and doubt by 
which they are surrounded. 

All this is not a matter of surprise, when we consider 
that she has sixty-four wooden ships of the line, besides a 
number of large frigates, which Mr. Cobden stated in the 
House of Commons a few weeks ago, uncontradicted, to be 
“ utterly useless / Not one of these once mighty and much 
dreaded war-ships would dare encounter a single gun-boat /” 
That declaration, made in Parliament, disposes of the wood-- 
en walls of Old England, once the terror of the world, quite 
summarily — England has some hundreds of these wooden war 
vessels of all sizes. 

But this is not all ; for, notwithstanding the utter worth- 
lessness of these wooden ships, such is the obstinacy of the 
British Admiralty, that it persists in keeping them all in 
commission, and fully manned ; and we are told on British 
authority, that “ thirty thousand sailors are thus uselessly 
employed at the present time.” 

But how of Iron-clads ? Has not England a large number 
of these effective ships, in service ? Let us see. 


14 


Address. 


First and mainly, then, she has some twenty iron-clad broad- 
side vessels. The Warrior is one of them, and cost a million 
sterling. They are powerful ships, and would make sad 
havoc of wooden vessels doubtless ; but how would they meet 
turret or cupola vessels ? The encounter of the Merrimac 
and Monitor shows what the result would be. Captain Cow- 
per Coles of the British Navy, regarded as a high authority, 
says, “ that he is going to supersede these broadside vessels 
entirely by turret ships ! ” Aye, then, it has come to pass, 
that as soon as turret ships are introduced, broadside vessels 
must be laid aside with the old wooden ones. So far as all 
present experience is concerned, this will be the result, and 
then England must start on another career of improvement, 
and build iron-clad turret ships. Well, but what guarantee 
has Great Britain or any other Government, that an ingenious 
Erricson, or indefatigable Yankee, will not push invention a 
little farther, and turn out some floating Vesuvius that will 
be as fatal to all turret vessels, as the latter are to the broad- 
sides ? 

Nothing is more probable, nay, nothing more certain. The 
march of improvement is unobstrcted and unlimited. The 
British mounted 110 pounders on their iron-clads ; but the 
Yankees put 450 pound guns on their Monitors, that could in 
a very short time send the W arrior to the bottom. 

But Great Britain is not to be beaten ; and Sir William is 
now making a gun that will weigh 24 tons, and carry a 600 
pound shot. By the time he gets it fairly in operation, Mr. 
Erricson will have completed his, which, report says, sends a 
ball of 1000 pounds weight. And further, it is not at all un- 
likely that, by the time that is done, some enterprising French- 
man, backed by the Emperor’s treasury, will have one ready 
for use that will throw a shot of 1500 pounds. All this, in 
kind and degree, is not only probable, but as certain as any 
future event can be. And so England must go on with her 
experiments by sea and land. 

At a late meeting of the British Institution of Naval Archi- 
tecture, Mr. Scott Bussell, whose name is familiar to us all 


Address, 


15 


as one of the foremost men in this department, stated explicit- 
ly, that 44 there were in the whole British Navy only two ves- 
sels which could pursue the Alabama with any hope of suc- 
cess in overtaking her ; and it was admitted that England, af- 
ter all her costly experiments, had no iron fleet on which she 
could rely, either for offensive or defensive warfare. The 
Warrior and other iron-clads had proved unsatisfactory ; and 
Captain Coles confessed his own plans, of which great expec- 
tations had been formed, were, in comparison with Erricson’s, 
“ a failure.” 

44 A failure!” and w r hy ? Were not the Warrior, the 
Black Prince, the Agincourt, and others of the iron-clads, 
splendid vessels? Were they not models of architectural ex- 
cellence and strength ? Were they not superior to all the old 
fleets of England and the world? Certainly. But the im- 
provements of the age had gone beyond all these, and conse- 
quently these magnificent ships were no longer to be relied 
upon. 

Now, if such is the condition and prospects of England with 
her mighty energies and resources, and such the existing 
facts in regard to the naval and military affairs of the world 
generally ; and if, as is certainly the case, nations must enter 
upon a new and illimitable field of experiment and expendi- 
ture ; and if, as is fortunately the fact, all the principal nations 
are so deeply involved in debt already, that they cannot go 
much further without incurring hopeless bankruptcy, will 
they not be obliged to pause, and reflect upon the folly of the 
course they are pursuing ? Will not the stark-madness of 
their career bring upon them the reprobation of the people, and 
compel them to abandon their senseless preparations for war ? 
I cannot think there is any doubt of this. The war policy 
has at last culminated, and all mankind will soon realize it ; 
the circumstances of the case will compel them to do so. The 
war system, like the wager of battle for the settlement of pri- 
vate quarrels, or determining the merits of a civil suit, must 
give way before the advancing light and science of the age. 
Such is my faith, such my hope, respecting the downfall of 


16 


Address. 


the most atrocious system of human folly and wickedness the 
world has ever seen. 

Considerations like these, it seems to me, the friends of 
Peace should bring before the public mind powerfully and 
earnestly. They cannot fail of having their influence, under 
the operation of the causes we have referred to. We must 
dwell upon the absurdity and impracticability of the system 
in the present age. To this our chief efforts should be direct- 
ed. It is the vulnerable heel of Achilles, where the most 
successful assault can be made. No labor should be lost in 
any other effort that does not look to this result. It 
is of little use to say that war is wicked, cruel, wasteful ; 
all this may be admitted, and the conclusive reply still will be, 
“ it is necessary.” Aye, and it is necessary, because inevita- 
ble, if war preparations are continued ; and hence, as men of 
Peace, we have but one thing to do, and that is to endeavor 
to convince our fellow men of the unsoundness of the princi- 
ple on which they are acting. Many of the leading minds in 
this country and Europe see all this, and feel the necessity of 
systematic efforts to enlighten public opinion on this important 
point in any way possible. Allow me to say frankly, that I 
have no hope in regard to the Peace cause without this. 
It is quite useless to look to any other quarter for relief. This 
hinge of the war-system must be broken ; we can kill the 
hydra in no other way. 

The question of preparation for war is a relative one, like 
all similar questions arising between different nations. It is 
not whether a nation has a given number of ships, or regi- 
ments, but whether, in proportion to the force of other nations, 
it has enough to preserve its safety and influence as an inde- 
pendent power. With France, for example, the question is 
not primarily what force she has herself, but what England 
has. She does not look at home, but abroad, to determine 
what amount of military and naval preparation she must 
make. So of all other powers. Now, if England and France 
would consent to discontinue all naval preparations for war, is 
there any doubt that every other nation would be happy to 


Address. 


IT 


join in the arrangement? Is there any insuperable obstacle 
to their doing this ? 


NEUTRALIZATION. 

In the treaty of Peace by which the Crimean war was con- 
cluded, the contracting parties agreed that no ships of war 
should ever be kept in the Black Sea — it should be neutral- 
ized, and made sacred to commercial intercourse. That was 
very rational, and very easily done. And what prevents, on 
the same principle, and by corresponding means, the neutral- 
ization of all the oceans of the globe ? Our great lakes, by 
the treaty at Ghent, are neutralized between the United 
States and England. Both parties agreed to keep no war 
vessels on these waters. It was a wise measure. It has so 
far secured peace, and removed all cause of jealousy, and all 
danger of collision. It is doubtless in the power of Great 
Britain, aided as she would be by other nations, to extend this 
beneficent principle over the world, and neutralize every sea. 
Our own Government has the high honor of having offered 
through Mr, Marcy, her able and distinguished Secretary of 
State, to consent that the waters of the globe should be free 
to all lawful commerce. We proposed thus to extend 
this grand principle of neutralization to its utmost limit. 
Many other nations acceded to the proposition ; but it fell 
through by the non-concurrence of the British Government, 
and British industry is to-day suffering the .consequence. She 
had too many ships of war to agree to such a peaceful ar- 
rangement. She now sees her mistake and folly. The TOO 
vessels of war which she then boasted, have through the won- 
derful changes I have mentioned, become fit for nothing else 
but “ peaceful commerce,” and are not very well adapted to 
that. 

In view of these great changes, it is readily seen that all 
nations have an immediate and powerful interest in adopt- 
ing a general system of disarmament by sea and land. 
England has a greater and more imperative motive than any 
other realm on the globe, because these changes affect naval 


18 


Address. 


preparations more disastrously than military affairs. England 
is now almost on a level with France or the United States at 
sea. Yet she has a larger commercial marine than any other 
country on the globe. All circumstances at home and abroad 
seem to concur in making the present an auspicious moment 
for showing the absurdity of the war system, and presenting 
the great question of a Congress of Nations to the attention of 
mankind. True, we are ourselves engaged in a frightful con- 
flict, of which we see no immediate prospect of a termination ; 
but unless it differs from all wars that have preceded it, it will 
end some time or other ; and whenever it does, we shall have 
a national debt of respectable European size. We shall under- 
stand as fully the pressure of taxation, and realize as perfectly 
all the burdens and miseries of war as any other people, and 
therefore be as ready perhaps to join in any reasonable and 
practicable scheme for its entire abolition. 

It may be expected that I shall speak of the great civil 
strife in which our country is engaged at the present time ; 
that I shall discuss its necessity and propriety, and speculate, 
perhaps, on its probable results ; but I shall say nothing of the 
merits of the war, or its consequences. This much, however, 
I will say, that it was a great misfortune that we were so well 
prepared for war when the rebellion broke out. We had fol- 
lowed up the old maxim to a very respectable extent for a 
young nation, and had accumulated a considerable store of 
war material. We had 1500 cannon, several large war ships, 
and an immense amount of ammunition at Norfolk. These 
were seized by the rebels, and gave them not only a great 
advantage, but an absolute ascendancy at the commencement 
of the struggle. It was with these that they met us at Bull 
Run. It was with these that they manned, in part, their for- 
tifications at Manassas, making up for any deficiency with 
“ Quakers,” which, thanks to the masterly inactivity of our 
commanding general, answered their purpose just as well. 
We had many fortifications, too, along the coast ; and these 
were taken possession of by the rebels, who have been able to 
retain most of them to the present time. We had, besides, a 
large military school, where officers were educated ; and when 


Address. 


19 


the war broke out, the greater part of these being natives 
of the seceding States, joined the insurgent army, and form- 
ed their leading commanders ; and no small part of those who 
entered the service of the government, had affiliated so long 
and so intimately with their Southern friends, and were so 
in sympathy with the rebellion, that their services were 
much more beneficial to the Confederates than to the Union. 

Let me not be misunderstood. We have many brave, able 
and true officers from West Point but every man knows, who 
has any tolerable degree of intelligence, that the country has 
# suffered frightfully from those who were otherwise. West 
Point has done us another, I fear, a fatal injury. It 
has established a military caste. Our armies are all ruled by 
it ; and up to this time, no man, not a graduate of that institu- 
tion, has been allowed a fair opportunity to distinguish him- 
self in the service of his country ; and I venture to predict 
that, under the present regime, none will be permitted to do 
so. Great wars always create great commanders. They 
grow out of them naturally and spontaneously. They did so 
in our Revolution. They did so in the days of the first Napo- 
leon. Yet where is the opportunity for this in the Federal 
armies ? There is no chance whatever. Our officers are pre- 
destinated. Most of them were Second Lieutenants from 
West Point at the beginning of the war ; they are generals 
and commanders of army corps now ; but where are the men 
whom nature made for generals, whom patriotism had inspired 
for the conflict ? “Relieved from service,” 

Is not all this true ? And if it be, then, how much have we 
gained, as a nation, by all our military preparations ? or, in 
other words, what has not the rebellion gained by our being 
so well prepared for war in time of Peace ? 

I will say no more in regard to our present frightful and 
bloody struggle ; nor would I have said thus much, did it not 
seem pertinent to my theme and this occasion, to show that, 
as a people, we had gained nothing, but lost immensely in the 
present struggle by our compliance with the popular maxim, 
“ In time of peace prepare for war.” 

With this remark, I close. My purpose has been to show 


20 


Heading the List . 

the absurdity of the war system, and the false principle on 
which it is founded. If I have in any degree succeeded, my 
object is so far attained. I have no faith in war. I had 
none at the commencement of our own contest, and if it were 
possible, I have less now. I expect nothing good from this 
or any war, that might not be obtained in a better way. My 
confidence in the principle on which our movement is founded, 
and the feasibility of it, are entirely unshaken. The consum- 
mation may be further off than it seemed ten years ago, but 
not the less certain. 


READING THE LIST. 

“ Is there any news of the war? ” she said. 

‘ Only a list of the wounded and dead,’ 

Was the man’s reply, 

Without lifting his eye 

To the face of the woman standing by. 

“ ’Tis the very thing that I want,” she said. 

“ Read me a list of the wounded and dead.” 

He read her the list — ’twas a sad array 
Of the wounded and killed in the fatal fray ; 

In the very midst was a pause to tell 
Of a gallant youth who had fought so well, 

That his comrades asked, “ Who is he, pray ! ” 

‘ The only son of the widow Gray,’ 

Was the proud reply 
Of his captain nigh. 

What ails the woman standing near? 

Her face has the ashen hue of fear ! 

“ Well, well, read on. Is he wounded? Quick ! 

“ 0 God ! but my heart is sorrow-sick ! 

“ Is he wounded ? ” ‘ No ! he fell, they say, 

Killed outright on that fatal day ! ’ 

But see ! the woman has swooned away ! 

Sadly she opened her eyes to the light ; 

Slowly recalled the events of the fight ; 

Faintly she murmured, “ Killed outright ; 

It has cost the life of my only son ; 

But the battle is fought and the victory won. 

The will of the Lord, let it be done ! ” 

God pity the cheerless widow Gray, 

And send from the halls of Eternal Day 
The light of His peace to illume her way ! 

Phil. Sunday Dispatch • 


EXTRACTS FROM THE ANNUAL REPORT. 


Our Society does not regard, as coming within its proper sphere, the 
internal or domestic operations of government, or attempt to decide how 
it shall deal with its own subjects. We assume, as peace reformers, 
no responsibility on such questions. It is no part of our business to 
“ inquire how murder, or any other offences against society, shall be 
punished ; how force shall be used for the suppression of mobs, and 
other popular outbreaks ; by what specific means government shall en- 
force its laws, and support its rightful and indispensable authority ; 
how a people, deprived of their rights, shall regain and preserve them ; 
or in what way any controversy between a government and its own sub- 
jects shall be adjusted” These questions are all very important; but 
we have always treated them as outside of our proper province. The 
social relations of mankind are three-fold — their relations to each 
other as individuals, their relations as citizens to the government over 
them, and the relations of one government to another. The Peace Soci- 
ety is concerned only with this last class of relations, and seeks, as its 
sole aim, to do away the custom of war, the well-defined, immemorial 
practice of nations relying on the sword as the final arbiter of their 
disputes. It deals with no other wrong or evil, and holds neither itself 
nor its members to any responsibility whatever for their views or con- 
duct touching any other question. 

Need of more light on the subject. — Everybody admits the 
necessity of civil government ; and if we treat it as incompatible 
with Christianity, or reduce it to a mere shadow or bugbear, with 
no power to maintain its own authority by a due enforcement of law, 
we shall soon array against ourselves the common sense of mankind in 
support of what they deem their dearest interests. Should peace ever 
come to mean in practice no government, no restraint of wrongdoers, 
no punishment of crime, but a general licence of every man to do as he 
likes with entire impunity, we certainly could not long expect for our 
cause, thus understood, either support or toleration. It has never yet 
laid itself open to such a charge ; and we marvel at the misconception 
that can regard it as incompatible with the support of government, or 


22 


Extracts from Annual Report. 


a due enforcement of law. Such misconceptions show how imperfectly 
our cause is yet understood, and how much need there is of enlightening 
the public mind on the whole subject. 

Here, then, is our first and great want. No cause ever had clearer 
or stronger arguments in its favor; hut the mass of no community in 
Christendom have yet given it a hundredth part of the attention it de- 
serves, and must have before it can ever hope for full success. How- 
ever much we may wonder and marvel at this general ignorance of the 
subject, it is an undeniable fact. Scarce one Christian or Christian 
minister in ten has yet examined it enough even to understand what it 
really is — what is its specific object, by what process this object is 
sought, or what means must be used for its attainment. On all these 
points there is a strange degree of ignorance and misconception. The 
laek is well-nigh universal. The press, the pulpit, the church, semina- 
ries of learning, have all, with only here and there an exception, slum- 
bered over the subject, and seemed even to think they were doing God 
and humanity service by such neglect of its claims. 

It is more than time to expose what we deem so palpable and glaring 
a dereliction of duty. The fact, if not so notorious, would be incredi- 
ble. Here is a religion whose Founder was announced by ancient 
prophets, and by angels fresh from heaven, as the Prince of Peace, 
whose Bible is a great statute-book of Peace, and whose millennial reign 
is to introduce perpetual peace among all nations, but whose professors 
are at this hour the most terrible fighters on earth, and the supporters 
of a war-system the most gigantic and expensive the world ever saw. 
Age after age, from century to century, have they kept up this system ; 
and now, as one of its natural results, we see among ourselves the sad, 
revolting spectacle of thirty millions of people reputedly Christian, 
putting forth their utmost energies in the work of mutual mischief, 
slaughter and devastation, more than two millions of men already 
called out to butcher one another, and more than three thousand mil- 
lions of dollars spent, and perhaps thrice this amount, if not even more, 
incidentally wasted, all in the vain attempt to decide by mere brute 
force points in dispute that might have been settled infinitely better by 
legal, peaceful means, without the loss of a life or a dollar. Earnestly 
did we entreat the parties, before they drew the sword, to acquiesce in 
this rational, equitable course prescribed in their own laws and consti- 
tutions ; but while all loyal men were ready and anxious for such an 
adjustment, our rebels, maddened by passion, and long trained to hab- 
its of reliance upon the sword as the final arbiter of their own disputes, 
spurned these appeals, and plunged at once into a sea of blood. All 


23 


Extracts from the Annual Report. 

this deluge o f evils we regard as coming naturally from the war educa- 
tion of our people. Had they all, both North and South, been trained 
in season and aright in such principles of peace as the gospel inculcates, 
or merely in such habits of submission to law, and of reliance upon 
legal, peaceful means alone for the attainment of their ends as prevail 
in New England, this terrible conflict could never have come. 

Here is our great work ; the work not of a day, a year, or even 
an age, but of all ages. It is to educate the entire community in the 
true principles of peace. It is to recast their habits of thought, feel- 
ing and conduct in the mould of the gospel on this subject. It is to 
create among them such a public opinion, such a standard of character, 
the prevalence of such a law of love or right, as would render a duel 
between individuals, a war between nations, or a resort to sheer brute 
force for the settlement of any domestic question, morally impossible. 

Nothing short of this can ever suffice. All theories, however true 
and beautiful, and all plans, however just-, wise and seemingly effective, 
must prove on trial utterly powerless without such a general, thorough 
training of society in the principles of peace. It is on such habits 
alone that we can, under God, safely rely. It is only such an education 
of the people in every Christian land, that can insure in time the full, 
permanent success of our efforts for putting an end to all actual war, 
and the whole war system. No votes, no pledges, not the most sacred 
and solemn oaths, as we now see to our sorrow and shame, can alone 
guarantee the continuance and safe working of the best system ever 
devised. It must be wrought into the hearts and habits of the whole 
people. Such a system, confessedly with very few defects, we have 
ourselves had in our general government for three-quarters of a centu- 
ry, a model for such a Congress of Nations, or system of international 
justice and safety, as should settle all their disputes, and regulate tick 
whole intercourse by rational, legal, peaceful means alone ; a grand 
Commonwealth of Christian nations for the preservation of universal 
peace and amity. But where now is this system, so long and so justly 
the admiration of the world ? The war habits of our slaveholders are 
trampling it in blood under their feet, and thus rendering its best pro- 
visions for the time utterly powerless. 

We cannot shut our eyes to the special obstacles that now environ 
our cause both at home and abroad ; but, amid all the ill omens of the 
passing hour, we discover some decisive proofs of progress. Its labors 
for nearly fifty years, however inadequate, have not been in vain ; and 
at this moment we see clearly their benign influence in holding nations 
back from such measures as seventy years ago plunged Europe in the 


20 Officers. 

wars consequent upon the first French Eevolution. Had public opinion 
been in 1861 what it was all over Christendom in 1789, both hemi- 
spheres might have been drawn into a maelstrom of blood from the 
effects of which the world could not have been fully recovered in centu- 
ries. 


OFFICERS. 


HOWARD MALCOM, D. D., LL.D., President. 


VICE PRESIDENTS. 


Francis Wayland, D.D., LL D., Provi- 
dence, R. I . 

Hon. Chas Sumner, LL.D., Boston, Mass. 
John Tappan, Esq , “ “ 

Baron Stow, D. D., “ “ 

Jos. L. Worcester, LL.D., Cambridge, “ 
Andrew P. Peabody, D.D., “ “ 

Hon. Amasa Walker, No. Brookfield “ 
Hon. Samuel Fessenden, LL.D., Port- 
land, Me. 


Thomas C. Upham, D D , Brunswick. Me. 

I) on. T W. Williams. New London, Ct. 
Hon. John Jay. New York. 

W illiam B. Crosby, Esq., New York. 

Hon. Geurit Smith, Peterboro’, N. Y. 

Rev. Samuel J. May, Syracuse, N. Y. 
Isaac Collins Esq., Philadelphia, Penn. 
Wm. II Allen, M.D.. LL.D , “ “ 

Chas. D. Cleveland, LL.D. “ “ 


DIRECTORS. 


Rev, Charler Brooks, Medford, Mass. 

Prof Alpheus Crosby, Salem, “ 

Benj. Greenleae, Esq Bradlord, “ 

R . P. Stebbins. D.D., Woburn, “ 
Lion Amasa Walker, N. Brookfield, Mass. 
J A. Copp. D.D. Chelsea, “ 

Wm. Jerks, D.D., Boston, “ 

F. D Huntington, D.D., Boston, “ 

J. W. Parker. D.D., « “ 

Baron Stow, D.D., “ “ 


Geo. C. Beckwith, D. D., Boston, Mass. 
Timothy Gilbert, Esq., “ “ 

W. C. Brown, Esq., “ “ 

Thomas Gaefield. Esq., “ “ 

H H Leavitt, Esq., “ “ 

John Gove, Esq., “ “ 

Jacob Bancroft, Esq., “ “ 

John Field, Esq., “ “ 

James '1 olman, Esq., “ 

L . T . Stoddard, Esq., “ “ 


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 


Amasa Walker. 
R. 1* . Stebbins, 
Baron Stow, 


J. A Copp, 

G. C. Beckwith, 
J. W . Parker. 


John Field, 

W. C. Brown, 
Benj. Greenleae 


John Field, Treasurer. 

G. C. Beckwith, Corresponding Secretary 
W. C. Brown, Recording Secretary. 













